Apparatus for folding large pieces of flat linen



Sept. 14, 1954 J. SWIFT ET AL 2,689,123

APPARATUS FOR FOLDING LARGE PIECES OF FLAT LINEN Filed Jan. 23, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l FMZ. 2

INVENTOR$ JOSEPH S WIF'T HARRY o. J'ENNER 57 A'fii Sept. 14, 1954 J $w|FT ET AL 2,689,123

APPARATUS FOR FOLDING LARGE PIECES OF FLAT LINEN Filed Jan. 23, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTDR JasEPH sw/FT HARRY 0. JENNER Patented Sept. 14, 1954 APPARATUS FOR FOLDING LARGE PIECES OF FLAT LINEN Joseph Swift, Knaresborough, and Harry David Jenner, Mitcham, England, assignors to A. & C. Jenner Limited, Mitcham, England Application January 23, 1952, Serial No. 267,713

Claims priority, application Great Britain July 12, 1951 11 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for folding large'pieces of flat linen or similar laundry fiatwork.

There is a machine of our design which constitutes an aid to folding flatwork in which a rotary arm picks up longitudinally folded work through a transverse slot in a table on which it is laid. and delivers it through an arcuate path to a final folding station; this machine creates a single transverse fold in the work.

It is the object of the present invention to provide apparatus by which two transverse folds are produced in longitudinally folded work.

According to the invention apparatus for folding fiatwork has a substantially horizontal power driven pick-up arm which picks up work through a slot in a table on which the work is laid and delivers it through an arcuate path witha single transverse fold formed therein, and has a substantially horizontal bar arranged in the path of the once folded work to engage it and initiate a second transverse fold, and has means actuated when the power driven arm is vertically below the bar to withdraw the arm from the work by an upward angular movement to leave the work suspended on the bar.

Put in another way, the invention provides apparatus for folding flatwork comprising a table having a transverse slot and adapted to receive longitudinally folded flatwork with its centre substantially aligned with the slot, a power driven.

rotary arm mounted on an axis parallel to the slot, a pick-up arm pivoted to the rotary arm and normally horizontal, this pickup arm being arranged to pick up the work on passage through the slot and deliver it folded singly through an arcuate path above the table, a substantially horizonta1 bar at the delivery side of the table arranged to contact the work suspended from the pick-up arm to initiate a second fold, and means operated when the pick-up arm reaches a position vertically below the horizontal bar to cause the pick-up arm to swing upward round its pivot to disengage it from the work and leave it suspended from the bar.

Preferably the substantially horizontal bar to which the work is delivered is mounted on a counterbalanced arm pivoted to the table and is permitted to swing through a limited are at the delivery side thereof, so that after being contacted by the work suspended from the pick-up arm it is moved by it until it is contacted by a limiting stop.

Preferably also the pick-up arm is counterweighted to give it a tendency to assume a vertical position when in position below the horizontal bar, and a restraining latch operated by a cam is released when this position is reached.

The pick-up arm may be caused to revert to its normal horizontal and latched position under the influence of the counterweight as it approaches the pick-up station, or a cam face constituted by a bar or plate may contact rollers on the arm to give it a positive angular drive as it is driven past the face.

The above and other parts of the invention are alternative mechanism for returning a pick-up arm to a horizontal position,

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of the folder of Fig. 3, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a releasable latch for the pick-up arm.

Sheets are normally between and in length and the apparatus now to be described has dimensions suitable for dealing with flatwork of that order of length. Certain of the dimensions will be recited to indicate relationships in size of the various parts.

A work table comprised by two parts I and 2 has its surface some 2' 6" from the ground and is 3 6" wide. Its total length is some 8' to 9' long, and of this length 3' 6" is accounted for by the delivery end part I and 1' 2 is the width of the gap between the two parts I and 2.

A counter-balanced rotary arm 3 is mountedlong and carries a normally horizontal pick-up arm 6 pivoted at its end; the pick -up arm thus passes upwards through the centre of the gap as the rotary arm is driven in the appropriate direction. The pick-up arm 6 carries a counter-weight l on the end of one limb and its other limb extends across substantially the whole width of the table; it is constructed from polished steel bar some 3" x /8" andis carried by a pivot pin 8 at a specific angle (see later description) The pick-up arm is retained in its horizontal position by a forked rod 9, Figures 2 and 5, the forked end of which engages in slots I and I I in the fiat bar The rod 9, as shown in Figure 2;

is slidably supported in guides 23 on the arm 3 and has a collar 29 fixed thereon A spring 25 is interposed between the collar 29' and a guide 23 and biases the rod to press the end thereof opposite the fork against the face of a stationary cam I2. The arrangement is 'such that the forked end of the rod 9 is withdrawn from the slots Ill up arm 6 which swings vertically upwards about its pivot and is thus withdrawn from between the folds of the sheet.

The angle which the pivot pin 8 of the pickup arm makes with therotary driven arm 3 must be such as to allow this vertical movement and the plane of the width of the bar 6 constituting the and II in the bar at a predetermined position.

and allows the bar to swing up round its pivot towards a vertical position.

A counter-balanced arm I3 whose operative limb. is 3 1 /2 long is pivoted on a horizontal axis 33% to the same side of the delivery end of the table I as the frame 4 carrying the driven rotary arm;

--Thisoounterbalan-ced arm I3 carries at'its end ahorizontal bar I4 which extends transversely to the major axis of the table I across its end.

A stop I5 carried by the table end limits the downward movement of the horizontal bar I3 to a position some '7" above the level of the table I; and the position of the horizontal axis 33 some 2' 3" from the centre of the gap is such that the-bar lies about 1' beyond the table end, whereas the arc traversed by the pick-up arm 6 on.the-. driven rotary arm lies 11" outside this point.

A take-off table I6 constituting a final operators station lies a few inches outside the path of: the bar on the rotary driven arm with its edge at least 3" from the plane of the arm.

-Detail features of the apparatus include the formation of the fixed cam, the form of the forked retaining latch, the provision of a stop on the rotary arm to prevent the counter-weight on the pick-up-arm from swinging it beyond dead centre and the angle at which the pivot of the pick-up arm lies with respect to the rotary arm; these features are best described in relation to the operation. of the apparatus.

In operation a'sheet of the standard length and already folded longitudinally is placed on the table I., 2 spanning the gap therein with its mid point approximately in the middle of the gap.

The rotary driven arm 3 brings the pick-up army 6- upthrough the gap and the pick-up arm 6. lifts up the sheet at approximately its mid point? and .carries it (with a single transverse fold at: thepoint of contact) up and over the table in an arcuate path. At a point in this path where the once folded sheet is hanging freely from the arm-the sheet makes contact with the horizontal bar Monthe counterbalanced arm I3.

The horizontal bar initiates a second fold as it is moved by the sheet through an arc to the position where the stop, I5 limits its downward movement.

The rotary driven arm 3 continues its movement bringing the first folded edge of the sheet over the horizontal bar I4 anddownwards. When the pick-up arm 6 reaches a position directly below the horizontal bar as shown in Fig. l, (the distance'between arm 8 and bar I4 being just 2' 2-""in the particular apparatus described) the fixed cam I2 allows the forked end of the rod 9 to withdraw from the slots III and I I in the pickpick-up arm must be vertical at the moment of release.

At this time the sheet is suspended freely from the horizontal bar I4 in a double transverse fold each web of which is approximately 2' 2" long, and is ready for removal by the operator.

The pick-up arm 6 must be returned to its normal horizontal position before it again comes into position beneath the gap in the table and the forked end'of the rod 9 must be reengaged in the slots I0 and I I.

For this reason the fingers constituting the forked end of the rod are of unequal lengths. The fork is arranged so that the shorter finger (engaging the slot II) is uppermost at the moment of release to give free upward movement to the pick-up arm, while the longer finger is uppermost as the pickuparm approaches the gap ready to engage the slot Iii.

The return of the pick-up arm to the horizontal may be achieved (as in Figs. 1 and 2) by the gravitational effect of its counterweight I as the rotary arm 3 passes below bottom dead centre and the counter-weight influences the pick-up arm in the opposite sense, or is prefer-- ably achieved (as shown in Figs. 3 and 4) by contact of a roller [1, carried by the pick-up arm 3 against a cam face which may be formed of a rod I8 fixed to the table. Whichever method is used the forked end of the rod 9 is maintained in its withdrawn position until the pickup arm is back to horizontal by suitably shaping the contour of the fixed cam I2.

It will be understood that the above detailed.

a table for supporting the flatwork, said tablehaving a slot therein and over which the central portion of the flatwork is disposedia pick-up arm rotatably mounted laterallyv of said table for rotation about an axis parallel with said slot, means cooperative-with said arm to selectively dispose said arm horizontally, means for moving said arm through a circuitous path extending upwardly through said slot to pick up and fold the flatwork centrally thereof, longitudinally of and above the table with the flatwork suspended therefrom and downwardly past the. end of the table, a horizontal bar parallel with said arm and disposed above the table for engagement with the central portion of the fiatwork suspended from said arm during the longitudinal movement thereof to drape the flatwork over said bar and form a second central fold therein as the arm is moved downwardly, and means actuated when said arm is, below said bar to enable said arm to pivot upwardly from between the folds of the flatwork and leave the double foldedfiatwork suspended on said bar.

2. Apparatus for folding flatwork, comprising a. table for supporting the. flatwork, said table having; a transverse, slot therein and over which the central portion of the flatwork is disposed when mounted on said table, a support rotatably mounted laterally of said table for rotation about a horizontal axis parallel with said slot, a pickup arm pivotally mounted on said support, means on said support for releasably holding said arm horizontally parallel with said axis of rotation, means for driving said support to revolve said arm upwardly through said slot and longitudinally over said table and then downwardly beyond and under said table, whereby said arm will pick up the flatwork and fold it centrally as said arm passes up through said slot and then carry the flatwork over the table folded over and suspending substantially evenly on said arm, a horizontal bar parallel with said axis of rotation and disposed above said table for engagement with the central portion of the fiatwork suspended from said arm during its longitudinal travel over the table to drape the flatwork over said bar and form a central fold therein as the arm moves downwardly, and means for releasing said arm holding means when said arm is below said bar to permit said arm to pivot upwardly from between the folds of the flatwork as said arm continues to revolve and leave the double folded fiatwork suspended on said bar.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 comprising means for returning said arm to axially parallel position after it is removed from the fiatwork and before it moves up through said slot.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said arm turning means comprises a cam under the table and a roller journalled on said arm and engageable with said cam to bias said arm to horizontal position.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 comprising a counterweight on said arm to bias it upwardly from the folds of the fiatwork when said holding means is released and to return said arm to operative axially parallel position after passing dead center under the table.

6. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said holding means comprises a forked rod slidably mounted on said support means biasing said 40 forked rod toward said arm to straddle said arm and hold it in axially parallel position and ineluding means for retracting said forked rod from said arm as said arm passes below said bar.

'7. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said holding means comprises a forked rod slidably mounted on said support, and means for biasing said forked rod toward said arm to straddle said arm and to retract said rod to release said arm to permit it to swing from said flatwork, the tines of said forked rod being of different lengths with the shorter tine on the trailing side to permit swinging of said arm from and to axially parallel position and with the longer tine on the leading side to limit return movement of said arm before the forked rod is moved to holding position.

8. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said holding means comprises a fixed cam mounted axially of said support, a forked rod slidably mounted on said support for straddling said arm, and spring means between said support and said forked rod and biasing said rod against said cam as said rod revolves with said support around said cam, whereby said forked rod is movable into arm straddling relation by said cam and retracted therefrom by said spring under the influence of said cam.

9. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said arm is pivoted to said support on an axis disposed angularly of the radius of said support to be vertically movable when it is substantially vertically below said bar. 1

10. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which the substantially horizontal bar is mounted on a counter-balanced arm pivoted to the table.

11. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which the substantially horizontal bar is mounted on a counter-balanced arm pivoted to the table and a limiting stop is provided on said table to limit the are through which the counter-balanced arm can swing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

